After watching Episode I when it came out, I had assumed that Jar Jars' role in the Ep II and III would take on an arc similar to The Mule from Asimov's Foundation series. In that series the Mule was a powerful telepath who infiltrated the First Foundation by disguising himself as the Clown, Magnifico Giganticus, in order to learn the location of the Second Foundation.

Or something like that. Anyway, I was sure that Jar Jar would have a similar role in the Lucas-verse. As this guy puts forth, perhaps fan hatred prevented that scenario from panning out?